Today, we take it for granted that people marry for love. This was not always the case, however. During the 18th century, for example, parents— usually fathers—selected their daughters' prospective husbands. A young women had the right to refuse their choice, and parents rarely forced her to marry a man she found entirely unappealing. Still, young women rarely had the right to select their own husbands.

What is Goldsmith saying about this kind of arrangement? Does his play suggest that the right people end up married to their proper spouses? How would you feel about this kind of arrangement?

Further research might be done into the 18th century's "marriage market," and the ways in which women reacted to it. The novels of Frances Burney or Jane Austen offer suitable comparisons. More generally, since much of She Stoops to Conquer revolves around parent-child relationships, you might...